Published: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 4, 2008 at 11:05 p.m.

NORTHPORT | As Bill and Beth Yessick chatted calmly around a dining room table in the back of the room, the store they founded 27 years ago was quickly being sold off piece by piece.

Wood Lane Furniture will close when all but a few items of inventory are bought by customers, which could be soon, judging by a bustling store Monday afternoon. For the Yessicks, the time for hand-wringing and worrying about closing is past. These hectic final days are a prelude to retirement.

'Once you get to that point that you decided to close, you know it's time,' Beth Yessick said. 'It's not hard to say goodbye.'

Retirement is how the furniture store began. Facing mandatory retirement as an FBI agent at age 55, Bill Yessick, now 72, didn't want to be a private detective or work security detail. After the couple visited an unfinished furniture store in Dallas,Texas, they decided to open one in Tuscaloosa because refinishing furniture was somewhat of a hobby for them.

In 1981, Beth Yessick opened the store in a strip mall on McFarland Boulevard with one college student as the muscle man in a 'finishing area no bigger than that table,' Bill Yessick said.

Six years later, he retired and joined his wife on a daily basis.

When it opened, Wood Lane was the first unfinished furniture store in the Tuscaloosa area, Beth Yessick said.

'It was a fairly new concept back then, and it was our niche,' she said.

Wood Lane resembled the Orange Crate, an unfinished furniture store the Yessicks' son, Michael, opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 1996.

But Wood Lane Furniture would expand its offerings, adding upholstered furniture in 1990 and finished sets in 1992. It moved to its current, larger location in the same strip mall in 1987.

It has been a family business, with all three of the Yessicks' children working there at some point, and though the store was a home away from home for the family, the couple isn't looking back.

'I've enjoyed life, but I want to enjoy it more,' Bill Yessick said.

They will miss the customers, and said they'll keep the business phone line active for a year in case there are complaints.

Stagnant sales recently convinced the couple it was time to close, and in January they decided sooner was better than later, hiring a company specializing in retail closings to run the final sale, Bill Yessick said.

The sale could continue six weeks or more, and what's left will likely be donated, they said. After that, they plan to relax at home, garden, volunteer more at their church and travel.

<p>NORTHPORT | As Bill and Beth Yessick chatted calmly around a dining room table in the back of the room, the store they founded 27 years ago was quickly being sold off piece by piece.</p><p>Wood Lane Furniture will close when all but a few items of inventory are bought by customers, which could be soon, judging by a bustling store Monday afternoon. For the Yessicks, the time for hand-wringing and worrying about closing is past. These hectic final days are a prelude to retirement.</p><p>'Once you get to that point that you decided to close, you know it's time,' Beth Yessick said. 'It's not hard to say goodbye.'</p><p>Retirement is how the furniture store began. Facing mandatory retirement as an FBI agent at age 55, Bill Yessick, now 72, didn't want to be a private detective or work security detail. After the couple visited an unfinished furniture store in Dallas,Texas, they decided to open one in Tuscaloosa because refinishing furniture was somewhat of a hobby for them.</p><p>In 1981, Beth Yessick opened the store in a strip mall on McFarland Boulevard with one college student as the muscle man in a 'finishing area no bigger than that table,' Bill Yessick said.</p><p>Six years later, he retired and joined his wife on a daily basis.</p><p>When it opened, Wood Lane was the first unfinished furniture store in the Tuscaloosa area, Beth Yessick said.</p><p>'It was a fairly new concept back then, and it was our niche,' she said.</p><p>Wood Lane resembled the Orange Crate, an unfinished furniture store the Yessicks' son, Michael, opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 1996.</p><p>But Wood Lane Furniture would expand its offerings, adding upholstered furniture in 1990 and finished sets in 1992. It moved to its current, larger location in the same strip mall in 1987.</p><p>It has been a family business, with all three of the Yessicks' children working there at some point, and though the store was a home away from home for the family, the couple isn't looking back.</p><p>'I've enjoyed life, but I want to enjoy it more,' Bill Yessick said.</p><p>They will miss the customers, and said they'll keep the business phone line active for a year in case there are complaints.</p><p>Stagnant sales recently convinced the couple it was time to close, and in January they decided sooner was better than later, hiring a company specializing in retail closings to run the final sale, Bill Yessick said.</p><p>The sale could continue six weeks or more, and what's left will likely be donated, they said. After that, they plan to relax at home, garden, volunteer more at their church and travel.</p><p></p><p>Reach Adam Jones at adam.jones@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0230.</p><embed src="http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/294377112" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1404947092&playerId=294377112&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://services.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="300" height="250" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>